Call a Marine
by PinguMew98
Summary: Following the finale. Angst! Death! Wisecracks! And a Nicole backstory!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Author's Note: ANGST! DEATH! WISECRACKS! And a Nicole backstory. Takes place at the finale.

Doc Holliday was, and remains, the fastest draw in the West. Waverly crumpled to the ground (before Wynonna even processed the fact that her sister aimed a gun at her), an inky black goo leaked out of her stomach like a punctured oil tank.

Maybe it was all too much for Wynonna's brain because she was staring at her sister and it wasn't until Doc shook her and yelled her name that she realized that she wasn't in a nightmare.

"We need to get Waverly some help. She is surely possessed by some vile creature."

Despondent and dazed, the heir moved her head around listlessly. Her mind was reeling; Willa, Waverly, Nicole, Willa, Dolls, Doc, Waverly. The sound of the patrol car didn't even register in her mind.

Doc spun to catch the officer before she reached her fallen girlfriend.

"Officer. I need you now because Wynonna is not her right mind. Now, young Waverly has been shot but has been possessed as well. We can't touch the blood lest we become possessed ourselves."

Without a word, Nicole darted back into her car and emerged, tearing at some packaging. Doc allowed the officer to pass this time. Dumping the contents of the package onto the wound, Waverly's eye shot open as she cried out in pain before passing out shortly thereafter.

"Wynonna!" the red head snapped as she lifted the small women into her arms, "Listen, I know some shit has gone down today but Waverly needs you. Take me to a witch."

Wynonna's brain finally kicked into gear causing her to turn on her heel and jump into the driver's seat. "Constance. Mount up Doc!"

Doc's moustache twitched at the name of the witch as he scrambled around the vehicle into the passenger's seat. Nicole placed Waverly in the back seat and slid in the other side, cradling the girl's head in her lap, not caring whether the girl was currently more demon than not. Speeding down the road, Doc turned in his seat to look at the couple, casting a queer eye at the red head.

"It is of interest to me, Officer, how you stopped that gun wound from bleeding. I ain't never seen such a power from demon nor witch."

Nicole noticed Wynonna's eyes flicking between the road and the rear view mirror.

"It was a hemostatic agent."

"A…what?" Doc replied.

"It creates an exothermic reaction which causes wounds to rapidly clot. Downside, it burns." The officer offered her blistered hand from where the powder had drifted onto when she rapidly poured the powder onto her girlfriend. "At least she won't bleed out. Now she just has to worry about a bullet rolling around in her stomach or demonic possession. So normal day in Purgatory."

Nicole has always best dealt with her emotions through joke. Even under the most stressful situations (like getting shot by your girlfriend's former assumed dead, but totally alive and evil oldest sister), Nicole attempted humor.

"And where did you learn of such a substance?" Doc continued to query.

"Used it in Afghanistan. Worked well, decided to get some and leave it in the car just in case."

Before anyone replied, Waverly's eyes shot open again. But rather than their sweet hazel, they were an endless abyss of black. There was malevolence in Waverly's eyes and Nicole reacted. Placing her girlfriend in a choke hold, she held it until the younger girl went limp.

"Shit Nicole. Did you just chock out my sister?!" Wynonna exclaimed.

"You do realize I am not having a good day?" Nicole responded. "Just get us to the witch. I don't want to do that again."

Delicately, the red haired women ran her fingers across the bruising already appearing on Waverly's throat, tears welling up in her eyes. She felt the car accelerate as a silence fell throughout the vehicle.

"So…you going to make me ask?" Wynonna said after a moment.

"I was hoping we could just leave it." Nicole said, absentmindedly rubbing her blistered hands.

"Yeah, that's so not happening. You choke out my baby sister then say you've been to a combat zone…I need to know you're not going to snap."

"First you think I'm a Revenant. Even with me getting fucking shot by your sister. Now you think I'm a messed up, PTSD vet. Any other suspicions while we're at it Wynonna? Spreading the gay agenda? Or A.I.D.S.?" Nicole's anger started flaring up.

"God no to those last two things. Demon-hell spawn I'm ok with. But I'd never suggest the other two, Jesus." Wynonna looked shocked at the implication.

"Sorry, I'm just…I've been fucking shot then came to help my girlfriend and her awesome sister, and ended up seeing said girlfriend bleeding out while possessed by god knows what and needing to…" Nicole gazed down at the unconscious younger girl. "Anyway, there's not really much of a story to be heard."

"Well, I for one am looking forward to hearing about this 'Afghanistan' place. It seems quite intriguing." Doc remarked.

Nicole sighed. "Listen. I went to Afghanistan. 99% of the time nothing happened. It was boring, it was hot, it was also really cold. The chow was decent. Spent a lot of time, in a lot of gear, staring out over flat desert. Saw some mountains leaving through Kandahar, which is a shit show by the way."

"What about the other 1%?" Wynonna asked.

"That was the IED. It wasn't too dissimilar to getting shot a few hours back I guess. The feeling of disorientation and like you've been struck by an object that jars you at the very center of your being. Anyway, I got concussed and when I came too, there were injured Marines everywhere, yelling and screaming. All I could do was help, they were my brothers. The Sergeant was already securing a LZ for medivac. The first guy I got to had a broken leg. Splinted it the best I could and just tried to keep him calm. Behind us, the ammo we were towing started to catch on fire and were cooking off in the back of the truck. Our translator, she was moving between the injured guys, just talking to them, trying to keep them calm. And Cardoza kept running injured Marines to and from the helo; I even saw him stop to puke he was running so much, then continue ferrying Marines. Another guy had a head wound, had to tend to that…long story short, one eventful day." She was still rubbing at her blistered hands.

"Never even fired my weapon in combat...Anyway, did my four years, got out. Was over hiding under Don't Ask Don't Tell, pain in my ass. Moved to Chicago with my girlfriend. It ended, went back home, joined the force. When I graduated, figured I needed to go to where I could do the most good, so I requested the place with the highest rate of unsolved crime in the state. And that's how…" Nicole gestured to the open fields, "I found myself in Purgatory."

"Welcome to the trip sister." Wynonna commented. "And story time ended right in time."

The patrol car sped up right next to the Constance's head, bobbing above the salt flats. Wynonna and Doc jumped out of the vehicle while Nicole gingerly pulled Waverly from the back seat. Constance was hysterical.

"And here I was thinking you couldn't get any nuttier than you already were." Wynonna quipped.

Waverly's eyes fluttered open. It was as though she had been underwater too long. Her head felt fuzzy and her throat burned as if she had swallowed salt water.

"Wave!" Wynonna yelled as Doc spun on his heel.

"Wa…" Waverly coughed. She had no idea where she was nor why her throat burned. Why, actually, her whole body tingled painfully. She attempted to speak again but didn't do much better.

"Don't try and speak baby girl." Wynonna whispered as she pushed back some strands of matted and sodden hair. Waverly coughed again, pain radiating from every exhalation of air. "What…what do you remember?"

Waverly just shook her head.

"Right." Doc said, "Well my dear Waverly. It appears I shall have to relay the events of this past fortnight." Waverly attempted to focus on the old gambler.

"After you touched the foul discharge of the demon, you become possessed and attempted to shoot Wynonna. Instead, I shot you and for that, I apologize."

Waverly felt Wynonna's hand tighten around her own as she suddenly became conscious of another pain radiating from her abdomen.

"Shortly following that the young officer arrived and was able to stop your bleeding with some powdered substance I don't fully comprehend and attribute to some sort of hudoo/voodoo. Suggesting we find a witch (Doc's mustache twitched involuntarily) and seeing as how Wynonna and I happened to know where to locate such a creature, we departed on the officer's horse. During the travel, you awoke still possessed requiring the officer to, incapacitate you; the reason your throat is a bit sore. The witch was uncooperative which led to a tussle and to end it all, the demon was excised and here you are, on the mend."

Waverly blinked a few times. The feeling of being underwater was still present and wondered if it was her vision that made her unable to see her girlfriend. Clearing her throat, Waverly rasped, "Everyone is ok though? I didn't hurt anyone?"

"Well…" Doc started.

"You didn't hurt anyone baby girl." Wynonna interjected. Her sister's tone confused her. It implied that, although she, Waverly, did not physically hurt anyone, things were far from ok. Through her blurry vision she began to see the scratches on her sister's face, the busted lip, the blackening eye, and what appeared to be a slightly off-centered nose.

Waverly reached for her sister's face, briefly catching her nose. Wynonna winced and jerked away, "Sorry. Still hurts."

 _Nicole pulled Doc aside. "If we excise the demon, it'll still go somewhere will it not?"_

" _That does seem like a logical outcome to this situation." Doc replied, quizzically looking at the cop._

" _And a hell-spawn demon kraken thing isn't just going to leave peacefully is it?"_

 _Doc's mustache twitched, "Conceivably."_

" _Listen, the demon can't have either Earp. If it comes to it, I need you to kill that demon."_

" _What are you asking me to do Miss. Haught?"_

 _Nicole glanced over to Wynonna roughing up the witch. "Whatever it takes."_

 _Without another word, she strode over to Wynonna, grabbing the older sister before she kicked the witch._

 _Constance let out another cackle. "Always letting emotion take over Earp. You'll never save baby sister that way."_

 _Nicole released the heir and gathered up the witch. "Tell me how to help Waverly or so help me god, I will end you, painfully." She growled. The cackling continued._

" _Silly girl. You think that all you see in movies are what is to pass? That magic is simply used to bend to ones will. No, it requires sacrifice."_

 _Nicole shook the front of Constance's collar. "No shit Sherlock. Just save her."_

 _A smirk crossed Constance's face. "Very well." Her eyes rolled back and the Latin came out in a trance._

" _What do you think you're doing Nicole?" Wynonna asked._

" _Whatever it takes." Reeling back, Nicole punched Wynonna as hard as she could. The feeling of the shifting cartilage confirmed the nose she just broke. "Sorry top shelf. The world needs the Earps."_

 _A black mist escaped Waverly's lips. It curled and snaked its tendrils towards Nicole, standing tall near her girlfriend._

" _Seriously," Wynonna said staggering to her feet, hand to her nose, blood dripping down her hand. "This déjà vu sacrifice shit needs to stop." Breaking into a run, Wynonna tackled Nicole from behind._

 _With the officer no longer in its sights, the black tentacles wound their way to the witch. Overtaken with the demon, the screams of the witch filled the air. Doc, a smile spreading across his face, took aim._

" _Oh my, this is a delightful little surprise."_

"Where's…" Waverly rasped.

A sad smile crossed Wynonna's face. "Wave…"

Worry welled up in the younger sister. Tears streamed down Waverly's face without her knowing why. Fighting through her pain, she asked again, "Where's Nicole?"

Wynonna remained silent, the events of the past few days finally catching up and draining her of her energy. Dolls gone, Willa gone, Waverly injured, Nicole…

"Without Bobo to focus the Revenants frustrations towards escaping the Triangle, they decided to make a run at killing the heir." Doc started. "We got off a few shots as the officer got you back in the patrol car. When we were all loading up when one of the Revenants caught the good officer in the leg."

 _Nicole placed Waverly into the back of the patrol car, rounds whizzing and pinging off the bullet proof vehicle. She felt a jerk as the red head was pulled from the vehicle._

" _Nicole!" Wynonna yelled, aiming Peacemaker through the small open divider between the front and rear of the vehicle._

 _The round skittered across the ground near Nicole's head. "Shit Wynonna, I thought you were supposed to be some hot shot!"_

 _She let a round go right into the chest of the Revenant whose dead weight landed on top of her. Grunting as she pushed the mass off, she felt a sting in her leg followed by a fountain of blood. Slapping her hand down on to her leg, she hoisted herself into the back._

" _You ok Haught?"_

" _Fine!" Nicole yelled, switching her Glock from her left to her right and aiming out the window. "Just fucking drive."_

 _The patrol car peeled out of salt flats, kicking up debris and obscuring the Revenants from view._

 _Doc turned in his seat as he rolled up the window. "Officer you do not appear to be just fine as you previously indicated."_

 _Wynonna checked the rear view mirror, swore, and turned in her seat. "You're bleeding!"_

" _Obviously." Nicole said through gritted teeth. "Check to see if I have any more of that combat gauze in my glove compartment."_

 _Doc rummaged through the compartment but came up empty handed. Muttering to herself, Nicole began availing herself of her belt. Tightening the belt until she could no longer feel her leg, then giving it one more tug for good measure, Nicole secured the belt. "Just get us to a hospital quick."_

" _You learn that as well in Afghanistan?" Doc asked._

" _Girl Scouts." Nicole replied._

 _Wynonna just laughed as Nicole laid down on the back seat, pulling Waverly close, her tears absorbed in the long brown hair._

"Officer Haught managed to take a fair few down but…" Doc trailed off. He hadn't expected it to be so difficult to talk about it. And it was not easy with Waverly sobbing.

"…but she bled out in the car."

Wynonna was crying silently as she climbed up into her sister's hospital bed, pulling her close, allowing Waverly to sob into her chest. There was nothing she could say, just hold her little sister and hope they all would get through this, one day.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Author's Note: Totally didn't expect to continue this story. I loved what I started to do with Nicole so I couldn't just leave well enough alone…I know, I kill her off than indulge in melodrama, I'm an asshole. Some quick notes: yes, I named a guy Bruce Banner. That's more or less a joke because he is absolutely one of my best buddies (he's my field husband) whom my wife calls "The Hulk" and whose Iraq stories are the basis for my development of Nicole's Afghanistan experience. Each of the stories I tell are a mashup of actual events or pretty faithful retellings of a full event that I or a friend experienced in the service.

A soft knock rapped a short beat on the hospital door. Waverly was still sobbing loud gasping sobs into Wynonna's shirt. Patting her baby sister's head, Wynonna looked over to the door. A meek man in a white coat hesitated.

"What do you want?" the older Earp snapped.

"Sorry to interrupt but I need someone to come identify the body of," the man checked a clipboard, "Nicole Haught?" A renewed wave of sobs poured from Waverly.

"Yes well, I can be of assistance." Doc interjected as he glanced back at the sisters. He followed the man in the coat, fidgeting with his hat as he walked. Stopping outside a room with the curtains drawn, the man in the coat spun on his heel.

"I am sorry about this Mr. Holliday."

Doc just nodded his head, bracing himself for the scene. Opening the door, Doc stepped inside. The smell of death flooded his nostrils. Hat still being turned in his hand, Doc stepped alongside the bed. Nodding slowly, Doc spoke. "Yes doctor, that is Officer Haught."

The doctor scribbled something on his notepad. "Do you know Miss. Haught's next of kin?"

Doc just stared at the cop. "No doctor, I do not."

Waverly was allowed to leave the hospital two days later. Wynonna cast furtive glances over to her younger sister the entire drive home.

"Stop that Wynonna." The youngest Earp snapped, eyes glued ahead of her. "I'm fine."

Wynonna shifted in her seat. Pulling up to the Homestead they saw Sheriff Neadly at the doorstep. When he noticed the girls exiting the car, he removed his Stetson.

"Sheriff…"

"Wynonna. Waverly." Neadly said with a small nod of his head.

Silence.

Clearing his throat, the Sheriff began, "I am here on behalf of the Purgatory Police Department. First, I would like to express our condolences for your loss."

Waverly's lip quivered but she long ago ran out of tears to cry.

"Secondly, I wanted to let you know that Officer Haught had her will changed. She made Waverly the sole recipient of her life insurance and the arbiter of her will."

Waverly was wrong; tears came from an inner reserve of tears that caused her body to ache to expel. Neadly pressed a key into Wynonna's confused hand and placed his Stetson back on his head, tipping the brim as he left. Wynonna could only hold her baby sister once again as the young girl doubled over in a new fit of tears. They made their way into the Homestead and Waverly sat down heavily onto the couch, Wynonna, sitting next to her.

"When will I stop frickin crying?" Waverly choked out as she swipped angrily at the tears on her face. "When will I stop feeling like this?"

Wynonna was at a loss. She wrapped her little sister up in her arms, gently rubbing her back. "I don't know baby girl."

A few more sobs escaped and Wynonna felt even more helpless. She tried to think back at her deeply repressed childhood, what had helped her get through? A thought crossed her mind. "Waves, you don't…blame yourself for Nicole, do you?"

"Of course. If she hadn't gotten involved with me, then she wouldn't have been shot by Willa. If I hadn't touched that goo, she wouldn't have had to rescue me." Waverly sobbed.

"Waves." Wynonna pulled her sister away so she could look into her eyes. "It isn't your fault."

Waverly silently let tears fall and sniffed, heavily.

"I need you to say it Waves. 'It is not my fault.'"

"It's….nomfaul." she mumbled, looking away from her sister.

"No. Say it all – Nicole's death is not my fault."

"Nicole…" Waverly started before drifting off. Wynonna's eyes pierced hers and a part of her believed her older sister. "Nicole's death…isn't my fault."  
"It's not." Wynonna reassured. "It's not your fault."

Waverly sat in Nicole's apartment, on the edge of bed, as waves of nausea hit her. Calamity Jane ran circles around her feet, mewing pitifully. It had taken another day to bring herself to visit. Slowly standing up, Waverly started slowly going through the assorted items in the room. The apartment was relatively sparse. Ikea furniture, no artwork or posters on her walls. Although, to be fair, there were very few pictures around either.

She did find a picture frame with a silver dollar embedded in the frame. The picture was of some sort of military soldier leaning up against a military jeep. Moving on, Waverly made it to her closet. The purple dress from the party was hanging up. Running her hand over the fabric, her mind traveled back to that night. Seeing Nicole from atop the stairwell, looking like a goddess; perfect and statuesque.

In the back of the closet another item caught her eye. Moving clothes out of the way, she saw a uniform that tinkled. And although Waverly knew a number of dead languages and ancient history, she had no idea how to start to make sense of the medals hanging in the closet. There was one item though, no matter how military illiterate she was that was unmistakable on the uniform: a purple-heart shaped medal hanging from a purple ribbon. Delicately, she lifted the medal to view closer when she heard a knock at the door. Dropping the medal quickly, the jumble of medals tinkled as they smashed against each other.

"Hello?"

Waverly didn't recognize the male voice.

The door slowly opened up.

"Hello? Anyone here?"  
Waverly stepped into view. A tall man with red hair jumped back slightly in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Waverly demanded.

"I'm sorry to have startled you. My name is Keith Haught, Nicole's father." He offered a hand. "And you must be Waverly Earp."

Briefly Waverly was transported to the day she met Nicole at Shorty's. People always seemed to know who she was before she learned who they were.

"Nicole speaks…" the voice caught in Keith's throat, "…spoke, very highly of you."

Waverly caught a sob in her throat and shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry to have intruded. Sheriff Neadly let us know you might be here." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Apparently Nicole made you arbiter of her will so, I guess we need your approval to have Nicole transported to Virginia."

Waverly was still processing the fact that she was meeting her girlfriend's father.

"I'm sorry, what's in Virginia?"

"Arlington National Cemetery. We were going to have her buried there."

Waverly closed the door to the Homestead slowly. Wynonna poked her head around the corner, eyeing Waverly cautiously. "You ok?"

Waverly nodded mutely. "I ran into Nicole's dad."

"and…" Wynonna prodded.

"And he wants my permission to have her buried at Arlington National Ceremony."

"That's an honor isn't it?" Wynonna mentioned offhandedly.

Waverly absentmindedly rubbed her finger over the window sill. "I think so. But, we never talked about any of this." Slight bit of anger was swirling in her gut. "How am I supposed know if this is something she wanted when she never told me that she was even in the military?!"

Wynonna silently cursed at Nicole for putting her and Waverly in this position. "Listen Waves. Nicole chose you to take care of her will because she trusted your judgement. There is no wrong answer."

What hurt Waverly more than she was expecting was the fact that there was this life Nicole had that she knew nothing about. In a way, it was a mirror reflected back on herself; how she kept Nicole in the dark about the Revenants and the Earp Curse and the like. There was the huge piece of Nicole that she had no inkling about.

She stood amongst the rows of simple white headstones amongst the rolling hills of Arlington. Many people in uniforms and black milled about. A huge man walked straight up to Waverly.

"Are you Waverly Earp?"

The man's bicep looked like it was the thickness of Waverly's entire body.

"Ya…" Waverly said as she felt herself wrapped into the hulking man's arm in a not-quite-crushing, genuinely warm hug.

"I'm First Lieutenant Bruce Banner." He waited expectedly. His frown faltered slightly when he realized Waverly didn't recognize his name.

"I was Sergeant Haught, Nicole's, Sergeant back in Afghanistan."

Waverly didn't respond, feeling like an outsider, clutching her jacket closer to herself.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Bruce said. "It's just, Nicole never told you about this?" he gestured to the gathering.

Waverly shook her head. Banner tapped his chin for a second before addressing the Earp.

"Listen, when this is all over, let me take you out to a place. I'll tell you anything you want to know. In fact, I'm sure everyone will have a Nicole story."

Many of Nicole's military friends gathered at Phase 1, some of them joking about how it must have been visiting the bar during Don't Ask Don't Tell as it was a few blocks from the Marine Corps Barracks (' _nerve wracking that's for sure'_ ). Waverly accompanied them, keeping close to Bruce. She had only left after Doc let her know he would keep an eye on her inebriated sister. After everyone had a glass, Bruce stood and bellowed, "A toast!" Individuals immediately fell silent.

"I know many of you here haven't talked to Nicole in years; I know I haven't. But as you know, once a Marine, always a Marine. And Nicole was a damn fine Marine."

The sound of fist pounding and 'Oohrahs' accompanied the words.

"Not only was Nicole a damn fine Marine, she did it while having to hide who she was. Let us remember her life and honor our sister. So here's to cheating, stealing, fighting, and drinking. If you cheat,"

"May you cheat death." The group was on their feet, glasses in hand.

"If you steal,"

"May you steal a heart."

"If you fight,"  
"May you fight for your brothers and sisters."

"And if you drink,"  
"May you drink with us."

Bruce finished off with a hearty 'Semper fi' and draining his glass. Sitting back down, he turned his attention to Waverly as the chattering resumed within the bar.

"You know, I'm from a small farm in Wyoming, not too far even from where Matthew Shepherd was killed. I grew up anti- everything; anti-black, anti-Hispanic, anti-gay. Being the Corps helped me realize that I was being stupid. Nicole was definitely one of those people who helped me come to appreciate the struggle LGBT kids have gone through. Back when we were serving, Don't Ask Don't Tell was in effect. Basically, if anyone accused you of being gay and an investigation was opened up, worst case scenario you could have been dishonorably discharged. Nicole had just joined the unit. Was the honor grad from her recruitment class so she came in a salty Lance Corporal." Bruce chuckled.

"She was a pretty great Marine. She always acted like she had the world on her shoulders though; like every situation, every decision, was between life and death." Bruce paused as though he was reflecting on his own words.

"After she got out and let me know that she was a lesbian, it really opened my eyes to the fact that people are just people…My life has been better off, exponentially, by Nicole."

Waverly smiled. She had just met this guy, but he was one of the sweetest individuals she had had the pleasure to have met. And the thought that Nicole was a piece of making him that way made her smile.

 _I have two stories about Nicole from boot camp. The first is funnier now than it was then and it amplifies the second story so, here we go._

 _So we were doing drill and our D.I. was berating us for our poor performance of port arms and the D.I. went off on a long winded schpeel about how you need to treat your weapon like you man. That you don't need the lights on to know where to grab, you just know. On and on. Anyway, she gets done and asks the platoon, 'Your rifle's your what?!' She had to repeat it because none of got what she was saying. Except Nicole who responded, 'Your man, Ma'am!' And the D.I., who I guess psyched herself up yells back, 'Ya! You know Haught's got a man!' Which now in retrospect is hysterical cause we know Nicole was gay._

 _A few weeks later, we were having a weapons inspection and were cleaning our rifles. I got mine all put together when I realized that I had neglected to put the buffer and the buffer spring in and when I attempted to open the rifle up, I was unable to separate the two receivers. Without hesitation, Nicole dropped her bolt and came over. She started manhandling my weapon until she got the two receivers separated and I was able to put my weapon back together. Actually, when she started manhandling the rifle, I told her 'Man, you handle that weapon is like your man.' But Nicole didn't have time to finish putting her bolt back together. The D.I. came over and started giving her hell and set her to get worked out on the quarterdeck._

 _I felt awful. But afterwards Nicole just laughed and said 'It's bros before hoes right?' That's the kind of person Nicole was: anyone else always before herself._

 _So we were out partying at a bar and Nicole started getting hit on by this guy we just called 'Creepy.' It was evident that Nicole was not cool with it, but she was too damn nice to completely tell him off. Me and Joe kept trying to corner her in order to block Creepy from awkwardly hitting on her. We then kept pushing her into the center of our table and making the most random conversation. Finally, she looked at me and was like, "What the fuck are we talking about?" I had to look around and Creepy was getting drinks, so I let her know we were trying to keep her away from Creepy and that if she wanted to live she had to get to the choppa!" As I grabbed her hand and three of us hustled so hard out of the bar; leaving Creepy to pay for all the drinks._

 _We got around the corner and started walking, only to have Creepy run up behind us who legitimately thought we hadn't left him there. I don't remember how we eventually lost him but needless to say, we got back to the barracks, piss drunk, laughing about how oblivious Creepy was. I know that it's not much of a story but, it was the first time Nicole really laughed since we heard that the ma'am died._

The mood sobered quickly at the mention of "the ma'am". A murmur ran through the assembled group followed by a forlorn silence. Bruce patted Waverly's arm as he stood once again, the conductor in the entire ceremony of cathartic release.

"I know, we're here to sing the praises of Nicole. Inevitably the Lieutenant would appear in a story. The fact that we've had to bury two fine Marines, both killed in action, is truly a loss for the world. So another toast. I know it's clichéd but, today, we toast Sergeant Nicole Haught and Lieutenant Cheryl Narvarro of Seventh ESB, One MEF: 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother'."

A moment of silence. The sound of beer steins hitting the tables clanked around the room. Another Marine stood up.

 _When we were in Afghanistan…_

Waverly smiled weakly as Bruce sat back down. He leaned over to her. "You doing ok?"

"I just…she never talked about any of this…"

Bruce patted her lightly on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I know she would have told you eventually."

"Probably but, the way everyone here are talking, you would have thought she would have said something, anything, by now."

Bruce tapped his chin in thought. "I don't know exactly Nicole's reasons but I can imagine that she had some resentment at the military which punished her for just being herself. And about why everyone here talks as though we were all best friends and talked all the time; this is harder to articulate. There is some unique, special bond you make from being deployed with someone. Even if you don't like them, or if you are consciously trying to not make that bond, it happens. And military people are always guilty of looking at our past with rose-tinted glasses. We remember the best times and that's what we're here to celebrate, the best times."

Waverly made a noise of understanding, crossing her arms in front of her. It was selfish and petty, but she didn't like that all of these people had this unique experience with Nicole, an experience where it was evident that she would have died for each of them. But mostly, Waverly heard the stories and thought, she was the reason for Nicole's death. She extinguished a light that touched more than she could have even imagined.

"Who was 'the ma'am'?" Waverly asked.

"She was another Sergeant in our platoon. Was a mentor for Nicole. Right after our deployment, she got selected to become an officer. Nicole was even her first salute. Deployed to Iraq and was killed by a sniper bullet during a dismount to check out an IED." Bruce replied, drinking deeply from his beer.

"I saw a picture of a female in the desert. The frame had a silver dollar in it."

"So, when you become an officer, part of the ceremony, once you get your butter bars pinned on. That's what you call a brand new Second Lieutenant's gold bars. You have your first salute rendered to you by an enlisted. Then the officer, after returning the salute, shakes the enlisted's hand with the silver dollar in it."

Waverly nodded her head absentmindedly. The few times she had visited Nicole's apartment, she had never noticed the small things. Yet those small things held such a history.

… _we would eat chow together in the hooch while we watched tv, How I Met Your Mother, Buffy, this miniseries I don't know how she got called Generation Kill. Anyway, we'd sneak our chow in and eat off the Styrofoam trays as we watched the shows off her laptop. And Nicole had this ice cream cone she was so excited about but went all butterfingers with it and dropped it, ice cream side right onto the floor of our hooch. I looked at her and told her 'Don't you dare think about it!' And she picked it up AND ATE IT! Oh man, I was so grossed out. I just blinked at her and told her I knew we cleaned the room every week but that's fucking nasty and if she dies of some weird Afghan disease I'll know what caused it._

Waverly laughed at that story. She could just imagine Nicole, sitting on some sort of camp stool, ice cream on the ground, with that beautiful dimpled smile spreading slowly across her face as she leaned down to pick up the food. And then, after picking it up, her eyes laughing as she ate the ice cream, just to upset her roommate more.

Waverly got to the room to find Doc laid out on the couch, hat over his face and his moustache twitching. Kicking over an unseen bottle caused Wynonna to jump up and attempt to draw Peacemaker. She did not have the aforementioned weapon and instead only managed to fling the remote control, that had apparently been in her hand, towards the door.

"Hey Wynonna!" Waverly snapped, watching the remote control fall harmlessly to the floor, feets from her. Picking up the remote, she noticed her sister's slightly puffy eyes. Her tone shifted, "hey Wynonna…"

Wynonna caught a sob. Taking another swing of whiskey, she wiped tears from her face. Waverly wrapped her arms around her sister.

"It's just…Nicole. She was the only friend I've had. And I've accused her multiple times of being a Revenant, of being a serial killer, of being a crazy PTSD vet. But she was always there for me, for us, willing to die. And I couldn't do anything to save her. She just bled out, holding you the entire time…"

Waverly was silently crying.

After a moment, Waverly started to speak. "I don't think Nicole would want us to sit around feeling bad for ourselves. You know, I don't think, I know." She took the bottle from Wynonna and took a swig.

"You know, you were so oblivious about us." Waverly giggled. "'Are you and Nicole like, best friends now?'" Waverly giggled a little more.

Wynonna pushed her sister playfully on the shoulder. "Well, she liked my ass better. Top shelf she called it."

The two sisters traded stories and whiskey the rest of evening.

"We all clear on the plan?" Dolls asked looking around the table. Doc waved his hand noncommittally, Wynonna grunted, and Waverly smiled. Accepting this as the best confirmation he was going to get. "Very well. You are all dismissed."

Wynonna and Doc got up from the table, inevitably to make their way to Shorty's. Waverly started tidying up the Black Badge room.

"You know," Dolls started, closing his briefing notebook. "I'm impressed with how you've been handling yourself since…" Dolls hesitated.

Waverly kept cleaning, "Nicole died." She said simply.

"Yes, since Agent Haught died."

Waverly placed a box onto another table, slowly turning towards the Deputy Marshall.

"There was only two ways to handle it: to lose it completely, or to continue on. And I don't think Nicole would've wanted to give up. She was a fighter."

Dolls smiled one of rare smiles. "That she was."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Waverly said as she grabbed her jacket and walked out.

Arriving at the Homestead, she was greeted by a mewing cat, running figure-8s through her legs.

"Evening Calamity. How was your day?"

The cat continued to meow as Waverly hung up her jacket, made herself a cup of coffee, and grabbed her ancient tome, settling in at her desk. After everything was arranged as she liked it, she picked up Nicole's white Stetson, settling it comfortably onto her head, and began her work.


End file.
